Responding to an eBay Buyer’s Initial Inquiries

The first written communication you might have with a prospective eBay buyer is an inquiry e-mail. A bidder can ask you a question about your item by clicking the Ask the Seller a Question link on the auction or sale page, which generates an e-mail addressed to you, as shown here. Often these questions are brief.

A question from an eBay member regarding a listing.

If you take the time to write a short, considerate reply that includes a greeting and a thank you for writing, this can help you make the sale.

Here are some definite no-nos regarding buyer inquiries:

Not responding. This will guarantee that the buyer won’t be bidding on your product, as they won’t want to deal with someone who doesn’t even care to respond to a question.
Responding with a terse, brusquely written note. This won’t make the buyer feel very important.
Omitting punctuation or capitalization. How professional-looking is that?

You should respond quickly, clearly, and politely — and with a sales pitch whenever possible. Remind the soon-to-be bidder that you can combine several wins to save on shipping costs. And by all means, use this opportunity to point out other auctions you have that may also interest the writer.

When answering a question, a brief and straightforward response is good. The note should address the question in a respectful and personable manner, and putting your eBay store URL in your signature is a great way to get new customers to view your other merchandise.

When a prospective buyer or bidder has a question, you will know about it in two ways: through e-mail and as a clickable link on your My eBay page. You’ll get the e-mail from eBay alerting you that a question has been asked.

You can click the Respond Now button in the e-mail and go directly to the online question to post your response, as shown here.

Answering a question through eBay.

Type your answer and indicate whether you want the reply posted on the page for other prospective customers to see. You can also indicate that your personal e-mail address should be withheld from your reply mailed to the questioner from eBay’s mail server. If you’re in a hurry and need to make a short, factual reply, this is an excellent option — but it doesn’t give you the punch that a personal e-mail can.

The listing page will also let you know that there is a question to answer.

You can also go directly to the item page, where you’ll see the notice that you have a question to answer. Click the link and you’ll be brought to the page where you can respond to the question (the same page the e-mail links to).

If you’ve responded to a question and indicated that you want it posted on the item page, the response to your question will appear at the bottom of your description, as shown here.